Metallic dish-like container



June 24,-. 1969 o. R. WEBER 3,451,587

METALLIC DISH-LIKE CONTAINER Filed sept. 27, 196e FIGZ FIG-3 INVENTOR.OTTO R. WEBER ha@ y@ HIS ATTORNEYS Unitecl States Patent O 3,451,587METALLIC DISH-LIKE CONTAINER Otto R. Weber, Richmond, Va., assignor toReynolds Metals Company, Richmond, Va., a corporation of Delaware FiledSept. 27, 1966, Ser. No. 582,397 Int. Cl. B65d 7/46 U.S. Cl. 220-66 5Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A dish-like container such as a pan ofthe type particularly adapted for containing and popping popcorntherein. The pan has a substantially planar bottom wall defining itslowermost surface and a downwardly opening peripheral groove extendingthereabout which is substantially contiguous with side wall meansthereof and which renders such `bottom wall smooth and free of wrinklesto thereby define a pan which provides uniform heat distributionthroughout its bottom wall.

This invention pertains to dish-like containers and more particularly toa dish-like container made from a sheet containing metal and to a methodof making such container.

Many products, `such as food products, are prepared for use in dish-likecontainers such as pans, or the like, which provide uniform heatdistribution throughout bottom wall means thereof upon heating suchbottom wall means to thereby assure eiicient heating without Wasting ofsuch product. In some applications it is especially desirable to providesuch a pan which is disposable and which may be used as a packagingcontainer and as a pan for preparing a food product, such as popcorn forexample, packaged therein.

Such a disposable pan for popping popcorn therein should also provideuniform heat distribution throughout its bottom wall for optimum heatingeiciency to assure proper popping of such popcorn yet have adequatestructural strength and rigidity.

Accordingly, it is a feature of this invention to provide a dish-likecontainer which is capable of being used both as a packaging containerand as a heating pan, which is of simple and economical construction,and which has a bottom wall which assures uniform heat distributionthroughout its area.

Another feature of this invention is to provide such a dish-likecontainer which is disposable in nature yet has adequate structuralstrength and rigidity.

Another feature of this invention is to provide a dishlike pan which canbe produced at minimum cost by making such pan from yan inexpensivesheet containing metal.

Another feature of this invention is to provide a dishlike containerhaving downwardly concave peripheral groove means in its bottom wallarranged substantially contiguous to its side wall means tosubstantially render such bottom wall smooth and wrinkle free.

Another feature of this invention is to provide an improved method ofmaking an improved dish-like container of the character mentioned in asimple and economical manner.

Another feature of this invention is to provide an improved method ofmaking such a dish-like container from a sheet containing metal.

Another feature of this invention is to provide an improved method ofmaking a dish-like container of aluminum foil which is inexpensive toproduce and has a smooth planar bottom wall free of Wrinkles.

3,451,587 Patented June 24, 1969 ICC Another feature of this inventionis to provide an improved method of making a dish-like container inwhich its side wall means is formed to blend smoothly with a peripheraldownwardly concave groove formed in its bottom Wall substantiallycontiguous to such side Wall means and defining the outer periphery ofsuch bottom Wall to thereby assure such bottom wall is smooth, free ofwrinkles, and provides uniform heat distribution.

Another feature of this invention is to provide an improved method ofmaking an expendable heating pan having a circular lbottom wallproviding uniform heat distribution throughout its area.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improveddish-like container and an improved method of making such dish-likecontainer having one or more of the novel features of this invention asset forth above or hereinafter shown or described.

Other objects, uses, and advatnages of this invention are apparent froma reading of this description which proceeds with reference to theaccompanying drawings forming a part thereof and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective View illustrating an improved dish-likecontainer or pan of this invention provided with a handle means andparticularly adapted to be used as a container within which popcorn isstored and sold as well as a pan within which such popcorn is popped.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the pan of FIG- URE 1 with a portionof its handle means broken away and illustrating the manner in which anexpandable cover provided on such pan has expanded to contain thepopcorn after it is popped.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view on the line 3 3 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective View showing the dish-like container of FIGURE1 prior to packaging popcorn therein.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view particularlyillustrating the arrangement of groove means in the peripheral edge ofthe bottom wall of the dish-like container of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view particularlyillustrating the configuration of the side wall means and the manner inwhich such side wall means blends with the bottom wall of such dish-likecontainer.

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged sectional View particularly illustrating thedimensional configuration and the manner of blending the side wall meansof the container of FIG- URE 1 with the groove means provided in itsbottom wall to thereby assure that a planar bottom Wall is providedwhich is smooth and free of wrinkles.

While the various features of this invention are hereinafter illustratedand described as being particularly adaptable for providing dish-likecontainer means such as a disposable pan for containing and poppingpopcorn therein, for example, it is to be understood that the variousfeatures of this invention can be utilized singly or in any combinationthereof to provide disposable dish-like containers for other productsand for other uses, as desired, where it is necessary to provide adish-like container having a bottom wall which assures uniform heatdistribution to the contents of such container.

Therefore, this invention is not to be limited to only the embodimentsillustrated in the drawings because the drawings are merely utilized toillustrate one of the wide variety of uses of this invention.

In the exemplary embodiment of this invention illustrated in thedrawings an improved dish-like container shown as a dish-like containeror pan 20 is illustrated. Pan 20 is made from sheet means containingmetal and in this example of the invention is preferably made ofexpendable aluminum foil and has handle means shown as an expendablehandle 21 which is suitably attached to the top portion of pan 20.

Pan has improved planar bottom wall means such as a bottom walldesignated generally by the numeral 22 and side wall means such as aside wall 23 extending upwardly from the peripheral edge of bottom wall22 preferably at an angle so as to define an obtuse angle between theinside surfaces of bottom wall 22 and side wall 23. In this example ofthe invention pan 20 is particularly adapted to be used as a containerwithin which a predetermined amount of popcorn is packaged and sold aswell as a pan within which such popcorn is popped. The planar bottomwall 22 comprising pan 20 of this invention is smooth and free ofwrinkles thereby assuring optimum uniform heat distribution throughoutits area.

Exemplary pan 20 has an expandable top wall suitably fastened theretoand designated by the numeral 26. Top Wall 26 is also preferably made ofauminum foil and expands to the configuration illustrated in FIGURE 2 ofthe drawings to receive the expanded volume popcorn once such popcornhas been popped by suitably heating bottom wall 22 of pan 20. In thisexamplary application a suitable vegetable oil, or the like, and salt isalso preferably packaged within pan 20 prior to sealing of top wall 26in position.

The manner of folding the expandable top wall 26 is illustrated at 27 inFIGURE 3 of the drawings, and such top wall has a protective cover 30preferably made of paperboard, or the like, which has suitableperforations 31 therein to enable severing thereof and removal in themanner shown in FIGURE l just prior to popping of the popcorn within pan20.

As previously mentioned, bottom wall 22 is substantially smooth and freeof wrinkles and upon being subjected to heat from either a gas orelectric range, or the like, the heat therefrom is transmitted in auniform manner throughout bottom wall 22. Such uniform heat distributionis especially important in this exemplary application to assureefiicient popping of the popcorn within pan 20 without burning of thekernels of corn which might otherwise occur with uneven heatdistribution.

To render planar bottom wall 22 substantially free of wrinkles, or thelike, peripheral groove means shown as a peripheral g-roove 34 isprovided in such bottom wall. Peripheral groove 34 is downwardly concaveas illustrated in the drawings and is arranged substantially continguousto side wall 23.

Groove 34 is a substantially V-shaped groove having first and secondintersecting side portions or sides designated respectively by thenumerals 35 and 36. Sides 35 and 36 of V-shaped groove 34 intersect on adownwardly concave substantially circular arc 37.

As seen particularly in FIGURE 7 of the drawings, side wall 23 has abase portion terminating in an upwardly concave substantially circulararc 40. Arc 40 blends smoothly with side portion 35 of V-shaped groove34 by means of another arc 41 provided in side wall 23 andinterconnecting arcuate base portion 40 with leg portion 35 ofsubstantially V-shaped groove 34.

The substantially circular arc 40 has a radius which is approximatelyfour times the radius of arc 41 and, as will be apparent from FIGURE 7,metal comprising the bottom portion of side wall 23 is formed to definearcs 40 and 41 and join side 35 of V-shaped groove 34 so that groove 34in bottom wall 22 is substantially.contiguous with the bottom portion ofside wall 23.

V-shaped groove 34 has a depth which is approximately equal to theradius of arc 41 and such depth is illustrated at 42. The width acrossthe open end of the V-shaped groove 34 is illustrated at 44 and isapproximately three times larger than the radius of arc 41.

At the opposite side of V-shaped groove 34 its side 36 blends smoothlywith planar bottom wall 22 by means of an arc illustrated at 45. Arc 45is also substantially circular and has a radius which is approximatelyequal to the radius of arc 41.

Thus, as seen especially in FIGURE 7 of the drawings, the manner ofblending side wall 23 with bottom wall 22 is achieved in a smooth mannerand without thinning of the material defining and adjoining groove 34.The size and arrangement of the various arcs also assure thatundesirable wrinkles, or the like, are not formed in bottom wall 22during the forming of pan 20. Further, the arrangement of V-shapedgroove 34 substantially contiguous with side wall 23 also effectivelyisolates bottom Wall 22 within the area outlined by such groove andreduces the possibility of wrinkles being formed in bottom wall 22.

In this example of the invention pan 20` has its bottom wall 22 which ispreferably circular in peripheral outline and V-shaped groove 34 extendsaround the circumference of such circular bottom wall. It will beappreciated, of course, that a pan similar to pan 20` may Ihave a bottomwall having any desired shape wlhile being provided with peripheralgroove means similar to groove 34 and arranged substantially contiguousto adjoining side wall means thereof as well as being provided withsmooth arcuate transition means between its bottom wall and side wallmeans.

Side wall 23 in this exemplary pan 20 has an outwardly projecting ledgeillustrated at 50 'which extends outwardly beyond top peripheral edgemeans of side Wall 23 and has an upwardly extending substantially rightcircular cylindrical portion 51 provided as an integral part thereof.'Ilhe upwardly extending cylindrical portion 51 is illustrated in FIGURE6 of the drawings and such portion is bent downwardly, as illustrated inFIGURE 3, around a. substantially circular inner loop 21A comprising theinner end of handle 21 to hold handle 21 and cover 30 firmly fastened inposition at the top of pan 20.

As seen in the drawings, side wall 23 has a plurality of indentationsprovided therein a representative few of which have been designated bythe numeral 53 and suoh indentations are formed upon forming side wall23 in an essentially frusto-conical configuration from a flat sheet ofaluminum foil. The indentations 53 provided in side wall 23 increase thestructural rigidity and hoop strength of side wall 23 yet are notdetrimental in the popping of the popcorn carried within pan 20 inasmuchas the prime consideration of this invention is to provide a smooth,wrinkle-free, and substantially planar bottom wall 22 in order to assureuniform heat distribution throughout the area of such bottom wall.

While the particular dimensions and configuration of any given pan, suchas exemplary pan 20, are not controlling and pans may be made of anysize and shape, as desired, typical dimensions will now be presentedherein for pan 20 to highlight the particular dimensional ratios whichmake possible the forming of the planar and substantially smooth bottomwall 22 which provides uniform heat distribution throughout its area. Aspreviously mentioned bottom wall 22 is circular in shape and side wall23 is substantially frusto-conical.

The typical overall dimension across the top of exemplary pan 20measuring the inside diameter of cylindrical portion 51 is 7.138 inchesand the inside diameter at the top edge of the outwardly flaring portionof side wall 23 is 6% inches. The slant height of side wall 23 is 1%@ ofan inch and bottom wall is 51%2 inches in diameter within itscircumferential groove 34.

As shown in FIGURE 7 of the drawings, arcuate portion 40 of side wall 23is on a radius of Ms of an inch while the radius between arcuate portion40 and side 35 of V-shaped groove 34 is 1/32 of an inch. The depth ofgroove 34 is (0,2 of an inch, the radius of arc 37 between sides 35 and36 is gg of an inch, the width of groove 34 is 3&2 of an inch, andradius 45 is also l/g of an inch thereby setting up dimension ratios aspreviously explained enabling the blending of wall 23 smoothly withV-shaped groove 34 and with bottom wall 22.

The particular dimensions of pan presented herein are merely presentedby way of example and it will be appreciated that the smooth blending ofa bottom wall similar to bottom wall 22 having similar peripheral groovemeans and associated side wall means can be provided in dish-likecontainers or pans which may be larger or smaller t-han pan 20, asdesired, provided that in each case the dimensional ratios of theparticular peripheral groove means and adjoining wall means areapproximately in the same ratios as presented herein for exemplary pan20.

The exemplary pan 20 described above is preferably made of a sheetcontaining metal and as previously mentioned is made of aluminum foil.Aluminum foil is generally considered as having a thickness ofapproximately .O01 inch to .005 inch; however, it will be appreciatedthat sheet means having a thickness substantially greater than this maybe employed and that the particular thickness of metal used is notcontrolling.

Pan 20 of this invention may be made or formed in any suitable manner.It is preferably made by utilizing suitable forming means such as diemeans, or the like, wherein a substantially flat sheet of aluminum foilis supported or held and formed by such die means.

One exemplary technique successfully employed to form pan 20 requiresthat an area of predetermined configuration be suitably clamped and heldbetween such die means in an essentially planar and wrinkle-free manner.'Ilhe configuration of the clamped area corresponds to the desiredconfiguration of bottom wall 22 and in this example is circular.V-shaped groove 34 in bottom wall 22 and side wall 23 with itsextensions at the upper peripheral portion thereof are then formedaround or outwardly of clamped bottom wall 22 in one or more steps, asdesired.

The various arcs 37, 40, 41, and 45 were previously described as beingsubstantially circular arcs. It will be appreciated that such arcs neednot be arcuate portions of a circle but may be similar arcs comprisingportions of other geometric figures such as ellipses, parabolas, or thelike, provided such similar arcs are smooth and nonabrupt in outline andare of substantially similar effective lengths and extend throughsimilar effective angles as arcs 37, 40, 41, and 45.

Terms such as downwardly, upwardly, top, bottom, side wall, 'and thelike, have been used throughout this disclosure for ease of descriptionand merely to correspond to the illustrations as presented in thedrawings and such terms are not to be considered as limiting the scopeof this invention in any way.

T-hus, it is seen that an improved dish-like container means made fromsheet means containing metal has been provided in which such dish-likecontainer means has a planar and wrinkle-free bottom wall providingsubstantially uniform heat distribution throughout its area.

Further, this invention provides an improved method of making suchimproved dish-like container means, or the like.

What is claimed is:

1. A dish-like container made from a sheet containing metal and having asmooth planar bottom wall delining its lowermost surface and a side wallextending upwardly from said bottom wall, said bottom wall having adownwardly opening peripheral groove substantially contiguous to saidside wall to substantially render said bottom Wall smooth and wrinklefree with said groove having a substantially inverted V-shapedtransverse cross section wit-h first and second intersecting sidesarranged to define an obtuse angle therebetween, and said first sideblending smoothly with said side wall and dening a continuous generallyupwardly concave annular portion at the bottom thereof.

2. A dish-like container made from a sheet containing metal and having asmooth planar bottom wall defining its lowermost surface and a side wallextending upwardly from said bottom wall, said bottom Wall having adownwardly opening peripheral groove substantially contiguous to saidside wall to substantially render said bottom wall smooth and wrinklefree, said groove having a substantially inverted V-s'haped transversecross section with first and second intersecting sides arranged todefine an obtuse angle therebetween, and said side wall having a baseportion terminating in an upwardly concave substantially annular portionof arcuate radical cross section which blends smoothly with said firstside of said groove through an upwardly concave second substantiallyannular portion having an arcuate radial cross section, the radial crosssection of said iirst annular portion having a radius of curvatureapproximately four times larger than the radius of curvature of theradial cross section of said second annular portion.

3. 'Dhe container as set forth in claim 2 in which said groove has adepth approximately equal to the radius of curvature of the radial cross-section of said second annular portion and a width approximately threetimes larger than the radius of curvature of the radial cross section ofsaid second annular portion.

4. The container as set forth in claim 3 in which said first and secondsides of said groove are connected together through a downwardly concavethird substantially annular portion having an arcuate radial crosssection with a radius of curvature approximately equal to the radius ofcurvature of said radial cross section of the second annular portion andsaid second side is connected to said bottom wall by a fourthsubstantially annular portion having a radial cross section with aradius of curvature approximately equal to the said radius of curvatureof said second annular portion.

`5. The container as set forth in claim 4 in which said bottom wall iscircular in shape and said groove extends circumferentially therearound.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,016,390 2/1912 Beadle 220-661,558,235 10/1925 Burton 220-72 X 2,384,810 9/1945 `Callcson et al220-66 X 3,004,685 10/ 1961 Hennies 220--72 3,021,990 2/1962 Duskey229-35 3,140,034 7/1964 Wyman et al. 229-35 3,144,974 8/ 1964 Eichner etal. 229-35 3,250,419 5/1966 OBrien et al. 220-74 X FOREIGN PATENTS602,743 6/ 1948 Great Britain.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

JAMES R. GARRETT, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 220-72

